The Purple
by tidra2012mi
Summary: Shei was born a graceling, his parents deciding to hide him by covering one of his eyes with bandages. As he grows older, he wonders if they made the right choice. He lives in the middlelands old enough to see it when Katsa leaves with Po. His grace is the ability to be believed when he is lying, though he still has to convince people of the truth. (M for cursing violence and smut)
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1

A high pitched scream pierced the air as a small bloody baby is pulled from its mother, the nursemaid taking him by his shoulders and assisting in his escape of the tight confines of the woman's womb. She was drenched in sweat, the bed underneath her slowly becoming soaked in blood from the escape of the afterbirth. A few seconds later and the mothers scream is replaced with that of the baby's, the tiny creature showing off the fact that its lungs worked quite well. Looking up at the mother, the nursemaid smiles, "It's a boy… you have a little boy Miss…" Exhausted, the mother smiles, watching as her baby is wrapped up in a warm but small white blanket and handed to her, still covered from head to foot in blood and other things. It takes a while for him to calm down, the trauma of being pulled from his mother quite upsetting. Eventually he grows still, making soft burbly noises at his mother, looking up at her blearily, blinking his eyes. That was when she noticed that his eyes were blue, but speckled with green, as though the deep color of the ocean decided to mingle with the grass of the plains. They were beautiful, and striking, making the mother smile, feeling only slightly reassured that they were the same color as her own. "Hello, little Shei… it's nice to finally meet you, after all his time…. Heh… so you're the one who's been kicking me… pretty boy." She kisses his forehead, making him blink and look up at her, gurgling nonsense at her in response to her words, too young to really understand what she was trying to say.

Shei was playing with a wooden carved horse, knocking it against a dog as though they were in combat. His two older sisters were playing together, with their pretty dolls, leaving the only boy to fend for himself, which he really didn't mind if he was being honest, being only two, he had grown quite capable of entertaining himself. His parents were quite at ease when it came to their only son, after all, he was already two and his eyes still hadn't changed. His nursemaid was seated in a rocking chair in the corner of the room, watching the three of them play, her eyes ever watchful to ensure they did not hurt themselves accidentally. After a few hours of playing, their father comes home from court, having been occupied for the better part of the day by business with the other nobles, something about the fate of a thief who had stolen from a rather prominent house and had gotten caught trying to escape. The man was tall, well over six feet, with long black hair and brown eyes, his hair done up in an intricate braid, held out of his face. He was rater well dressed, still in his court garments, obviously taking the time to look impressive, along with his title in the court itself. The first thing he does is head straight to where his children are playing, earning a few excited and slightly annoying squeals from his daughters, who rush to greet him, earning hugs and kisses from the man, "Well hello little girls! You didn't miss me did you? Lia, have you been nice to your little sister? Not teasing her too much?" The slightly taller girl with long blonde hair and dark brown eyes nods excitedly, "Yes Papa, Honey and me have been playing nice all day." The smaller blonde girl with eyes like Shei nods at this, "We've been being good while you were gone." This makes the man laugh, shaking his head, his eyes falling to his son, "What about Shei? Have you been playing with your brother?" The two girls look at each other, then back at their father, looking guilty, "He doesn't want to play with us, Papa… he's just a stupid boy anyway." Their father raises his brows at this, "That's not a very nice thing to say about your blood, he's your little brother, you should love him even if he doesn't want you to, like the pretty little ladies you are." Standing up, he finally crosses the room to Shei, who doesn't look up from his toys. "Son?" Shei finally looks up curiously, wondering what his father could want. "Yes, Papa?" The man narrows his eyes, looking slightly stern, but his face is to warm to really convey any truly upsetting expression, so Shei simply smiles at him, "Why don't you play with your sisters?" Shei's smile fades, looking back down at his toys, "Because they're stupid girls and I don't like them." This makes his father laugh, patting his boy on his black haired head, "Even if you feel that way you should still play with them, they're your only blood besides your mother and I, and we're both too busy at court to play with you every day like they can." Shei huffs, looking rather annoyed, "I'd rather play by myself." The man pauses, glancing down at his boy, "Well, I guess I can't force you to do something you don't want to do… but you really should give your sisters a second chance, I'm sure you could grow to like them if you do." With that, the man stands again, heading towards the door, only to be bowed to by the nursemaid, "Lovely to see you Lord Theagan." He nods dismissively at her, exiting the room.

Shei wakes up in the room he shares with his sisters, the nursemaid having been shaking him for several minutes to try to rouse him. Blearily, he rolls over to face her, blinking and looking up at the woman. The response he gets is both shocking and unexpected. She gasps, clutching her throat and backing off hurriedly, "Oh dear Maker, no… not you… not Master Shei… no no no….no this can't be. Not one of them, he can't be… I'm just seeing things…" She steps back closer, taking him by the chin and tilting his head back to get a better look at his face, annoying the boy with how vague she was being about what was wrong. Her hand shakes where it touches the two year old's face, making him even more worried that something was wrong with her. "Oh dear… I'm not seeing things… it really changed… not a graceling… anything but a graceling…" She retracts her hand, still shaking, looking confused about what to do next. Shei was even more confused, what was she talking about, "Fira, what's a graceling?" Fira blinks at this, looking conflicted. Instead of answering, she crosses the room, picking up one of the handheld mirrors that belonged to Lia, sitting on the bed beside him and handing it to Shei. He takes it, looking even more confused. Looking into the mirror at his own reflection, he blinks several times in surprise, holding up a hand to his face. It had changed color, just the one. His left eye was still that deep blue with bright green speckles, just like his mothers. But his right eye… His right eye had changed. It was now a dark vibrant purple, with black specks, looking more like a jewel than any iris. Why had it changed? What did this mean? His mind was far to young to really understand what was going on, so he simply stares at her in confusion, a look of pity mixing with one of fear.

His father was pacing, trying to figure out what they should do. His mother was frozen in her seat, staring off into space. Obviously neither of them had actually expected their son to end up being a graceling, and neither of them wanted to give him up to King Randa. Despite him being a rather stubborn child, they both loved him dearly, as any parent loves their child. How could any parent make this decision, to give up their child, even if his grace turned out to be useless and he was returned to them. But what if he had a useful grace? What then? They would never again kiss their baby goodnight, eat with him, see him grow into a man. They would miss it all. Not even mentioning that the king would use any talented gracelings to further his own agenda, so there was no telling what Shei would be made to do, it would all depend on what his grace was, but there would be no way to tell until it manifested itself. "We can't let him have him, Kira. We just can't." His wife looks at him, seeming confused, "But… we must! It is a royal decree, you know we can not refuse to hand him over. He s graced. His place is with the king." As she says this, her voice breaks, and tears begin to fall down her face, "It is our duty to give him to the king… we cannot refuse…" Lord Theagan shakes his head, crossing the room and taking her hands in his, "What if they never find out he's graced? They would think he was nothing more than our son! He would be able to take his place as the rightful ruler of our house when he comes of age. He'll never get to own a thing of his own if we hand him to Randa… We'll only ever see him when we visit the king, and even then he might not let us speak with one of his graced." Looking desperate, he inches closer to Lady Kira, lowering his voice, "We can hide his grace… no one but Fira knows so far… we can keep him to ourselves…" Kira stares at her husband, looking shocked, "But Kane, it can't be that easy, others will know as soon as they see him that he is graced. His eyes don't lie." Thoughtfully, the Lord pauses, staring at his Lady. After a minute of silence, he comes up with an answer, "What if we hide one of his eyes? The purple one, the blue still looks like yours, if it's the only one people see they will think nothing of it. We can cover it with bandages… people will simply think he lost his eye." Kira looks shocked with the ease of his answer, "You're talking about betraying the king… do you have any idea how serious that is? We could be imprisoned, or worse…" He simply stares at her, desperately, "Are you saying you'd rather risk losing our only son?"

"You can never take this off Master Shei, you must wear it always, no matter what." Fira was twining the bandages around Shei's head, the boy fidgeting under her hands, "But it's itchy… I hate it…" She simply sighs, finishing with her work, "If you take it off the king will take you away from your family forever. Do you want that?" Shei goes still, looking pouty, "No…" He looks in the mirror, staring at the white bandages that covered his right eye, his left still as bright and shiny as ever, more than pretty enough to make up for the ugly bandages. "How long do I have to wear this?" She sighs, watching him as he stares at himself, "Always. You can never take it off, not for any reason. You can also never tell anyone that you are a graceling, you must take your secret to your grave." Shei rubs at the bandages, itching at his eye, looking irritated. She stares at him pityingly, shaking her head, "Besides wearing this, you should have a normal life, no one will know you are graced, and they will treat you just as they treat any other man." Shei sighs, looking up at his maid, "Can I go play now?"

Shei was watching one of the servants bake in the kitchens, standing on a little stool so he could see over the counter, his taller sisters beside him on the floor. He was now five years old, his hair grown out to about shoulder length, the locks a deep dark black, contrasting with the blonde of his sisters. The chief was baking strudel, raspberry strudel for desert after dinner that day, and the smell had all three children smiling. "Can I have a piece before dinner?" Lia asks, quickly followed by the other two saying in unison, "Me too!" The chief smiles, breaking off three small pieces and handing them to the children, who quickly devour them, Shei making a small mess of his face. Almost as soon as it was gone, Honey looks up and asks, "Can I have another piece?" The chief shakes her head with a smile, "No little one, you'll spoil your dinner." The girls look a little disappointed, but Shei is licking his lips, staring at the strudel. "Can I have a piece?" The chief looks over at him, looking slightly annoyed, "I just told your sister no, what makes you think I'll say yes to you?" Thinking rather quickly, Shei says the first thing that pops into his head, "But, you didn't give me one yet." The chief blinks at him, staring at the lying boy for a few seconds, before she says, "Oh… I could have sworn I gave you one… here you go darling." She breaks off another piece, handing it to him with a smile. He eats it greedily as his sisters stare, looking baffled, "But you just said we couldn't have anymore! If he gets a piece I want one too!" The chief shakes her head, returning to her work, "Don't be greedy, he had one piece just like you, now run along and let me work, I need to finish this in time for dinner." The girls glare at Shei, then back to the chief, "But you gave him two! We want to have two too!" Sighing, the chief stops her work, "I said run along, he got one piece just like you, stop trying to manipulate your way into getting more, you'll only spoil your dinner." Looking rather upset, the girls spin around and exit the kitchen. Shei on the other hand, was looking at the strudel. There was quite a lot left, and he was hungry. If it worked once, maybe it would work again. "Can I have a piece? You gave the girl's one, but not me." Looking surprised, she smiles at him, "Oh I'm sorry… of course you can have a piece." She hands him another, not seeming to realize she'd given him two already. This continues for several minutes, him eating the ones she gave him, then asking for another, saying that he'd never gotten one, until the entire strudel has been eaten, and Shei is holding his belly, looking rather sick, his face coated in raspberry. "Now I could have sworn I made more than just enough for you three kids… I guess I'll just have to make another batch." Shei nods at her, stepping off his stool. He takes only a few steps before he's suddenly and violently sick, throwing up a rather large amount of bread and raspberry, earning more than a few disgusted groans, one of the scullery maids coming over and rubbing at his back, "How much did you give him? He's sicker than a dog." Looking rather shocked, the chief stares at her, "Only one piece! I swear, the girl's had one too and they were fine, I swear." The maid looks down at the mess, wrinkling her nose, "That's way too much for just one piece, there's no way, you must have given him way too much." The chief shakes her head, "I swear, I only gave him one small piece, I have no idea why he threw up so much…" She goes silent, seeming to be trying to remember if she had indeed given him more than one piece, but she shakes her head, "I only gave him a little piece, there's no way that's what made him sick." Shei was feeling a bit remorseful for exploiting the chief for treats, his stomach still turning over, though he didn't feel the need to puke again.

Shei was walking with his sisters through the market square, scanning the various goods. He was about ten now, and almost as tall as Honey. He still wore bandages over his eye, hiding his secret from the public. He hung back from the girls, who were now teens and eligible to be married, still not very fond of them, though they were even less fond of him, sticking together in the busy square. As they are walking, they pass a cart filled with jewelry. Shei's sisters stop to stare at the pretty jewels, leaving Shei to stare after them as well scanning the pretty things. His eyes catch a rather beautiful one, and he immediately thinks his mother would love it, especially if it came from him. Without much hesitation, he picks it up, moving to stuff it in his pocket. "Hey hey hey! Put that back young man." The teller walks around the stand and takes him by the wrist, pulling his hand out of his pocket along with the necklace. Thinking quickly, Shei shakes his head, "But I already paid for it! It's mine!" The teller stops, staring at him, "Oh… I thought you were just stealing it. My mistake." Staring at him as he is released, Shei realizes something. Whenever he lied, people always believed him. Smirking at this finding, he decides to test it, picking up a few rings and earrings and putting them in his pockets, "I paid for these too." He says, his voice full of confidence. The teller nods, smiling, seeming happy to have made so many sales to one person, "I hope you enjoy them, I'm sure your lady friend will appreciate them." Smiling and nodding, Shei follows his sisters as they leave. For the rest of their trip through the market, Shei continues to snatch things, simply telling the sellers that he already paid for them, and he gets away with it scott free. Eventually, the three return home, Shei's pockets full of stolen goods, eating an apple he swiped. Their mother smiles when she sees them return, and Shei walks right up to her and hands her all the jewels he stole. "These are for you Ma." He says with a smile. She stares wide eyed at all he has given her, "Where did you get these?" Instead of lying like he did to the tellers, Shei says, "They just gave them to me." Which was somewhat true. Her eyes narrow at him, looking suspicious, "No… no one would give a child all this for free. Did you steal these?" Looking surprised that she didn't believe him, he shakes his head, "No." Suddenly she smiles, "Oh, ok. That's good, you had me worried for a minute there." He looks at her thoughtfully. So she hadn't believed him when he'd tried to tell her the truth, but she easily believed his lie and didn't ask any more questions, seemingly satisfied.

As time goes by, Shei slowly started to realize what it meant to be graced. It meant he would have a single exceptional skill, and master it easily, no matter what it was. Some people had swimming graces, or archery graces. Even Lady Katsa of the kings court had a grace, a scary grace. She could kill anyone with ease, something that both intrigued and terrified him. What if she tried to kill him? She would succeed. He wasn't that hard to kill, especially not for someone who was graced with it. He knew of another boy who had a cooking grace, he worked in the kitchens of the castle for the king himself. He wondered about what his grace was. He had no one besides Fira to talk to about his grace, and she rarely wanted to hear about it, so paranoid that someone would overhear. As Shei grew, he became less afraid of being found out, after all, he was a great liar apparently, so far no matter what he said everyone believed him. Wait, that wasn't quite true, there had been times where he had been telling the truth and had not been believed, so it seemed he was only convincing when he was lying. Was that his grace? Lying? It seemed like a pretty petty grace to have, why couldn't he have a fighting grace? Or an archery grace? Many hours had been poured into his archery practice, but he simply couldn't get the hang of it, always missing the target no matter how long he aimed for. Not to mention, the other boys in the city made fun of him for his bandages, calling him a crippled for being half blind. If only they knew his eye was fine, that he was simply graced. Graced with lying.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Shei was getting used to his grace, figuring out the margin for just how much he had to lie by for the grace to pick it up and actually work. Lying by ommition never seemed to affect it, as if he stayed vague it only encouraged people to ask questions and he would be forced to either confess or scramble to come up with a lie. One such time was when he had been on a sort of thieving spree, and had been stealing things from market stalls, something he'd done ever since that day when he'd figured out about his lying. His room was filled with nicknacks and linens and things, and he was sorting through the things he wanted to keep, and what he wanted to give to his mother. Most of the linens would go of course, as he had no use for them at all, and Ma could make blankets or other fancy things with her sewing. He wasn't quite sure how sewing worked, but apparently his mother was pretty into it.

His mistake was expecting her to simply take the linens without asking questions, since she had been satisfied with a simple no when she had asked him if he'd stolen before. With an armful of linens, he brings them into her bedchamber and sets them down on a comfortable looking chair, the pile about half the size of Shei himself. She blinks at him, looking confused, "Shei darling… where did you say you got these from?" Not really feeling like lying outright to his mother again, he simply shrugs and sets about folding the linens for her, making the pile a bit neater to look at. She walks up behind him, setting a hand on his small shoulder, "Shei… I asked you a question…. Where did you get these things?" He shrugs again, still folding the linens, "from the market stalls, they let me take what I want. " Sensing she wouldn't be satisfied with that simple answer, he adds, "They always let me take whatever I want, maybe it's because they know who father is and are trying to suck up?" Being close to 12, he was learning to be a little more creative in his lies, but still being young, there was a limit to how fast his brain could work. His mother looks very skeptical, "Your father may be a noble, but I highly doubt that just because that's what he is people will let you take whatever you want whenever you want it."

He sighs, feeling a little bit caught, a feeling he didn't really care for. He also didn't want to admit defeat and simply lie to her for simplicities sake. "Well they did. You can either believe me when I say they simply let me take them, or you can believe I'm lying, either way these are now yours, I can't give them back without getting a refund, so it would be simplest if you just accept that I'm telling you the truth." She looks slightly abashed at this talk, going quiet for a while, and for a minute, Shei thinks he may have gotten away with it without having to lie. But after some time to think over her response, she quips, "I don't want you accepting any more of these favors from the people at the market. They may think it gives them influence over you, and therefore your father. I won't make you return what you've already gotten, but if I see you with anything new I will make you return it. Am I understood?" Sighing, he realizes with chagrin that he should have just lied to her, now he couldn't openly steal things without getting in trouble with his mother. Despite his attitude, he nods, finishing folding the last of the linen, "Yes, Ma."

That was the end of his theft from the markets, at least with things he didn't just eat or use immediately then throw away, so he still gets a fair bit of theft in regardless of his mother's words. Now that he was a little older, his battle training could start. He is given a sword and a straw filled dummy to hit. The sword is a little heavy, and he has a hard time keeping his arm up, but a few sharp words from his trainer is all it takes to get him to do just that, "Keep your sword up! You can't kill a man with your arm dangling, and you can't block a blow without lifting your blade, stop being a little nancy boy and hit the damn target ya ingrate!" Blushing rather darkly, he takes a few swings of his sword at the dummy, somehow managing to cut slices out of the bag covering the straw and letting the insides fall to the ground in small doses. His grace couldn't help him with his training, so he advances by his own skill alone, though his progress is followed closely by his trainer, who keeps him on his toes and eager to prove himself.

In addition to sword training, he is given his very first horse. It was young, a little small, but just big enough for him to ride. It had been raised in the stables, and had been broken in at a young age, so by the time Shei approaches the horse, it is ready to ride. He had been looking forward to this point in his life for quite a while, ever since he had first watched men riding horses out of the city in a great galloping rush, not to mention jousting, where two horses ran at each other and carried their riders into a collision with their big pointy stick he didn't know the name of. He was still to young to compete in any tournaments, but he could at least learn to ride right? When he first approached his horse, the mare looked at him with her big eyes and his heart just melted, he holds out his hand to pet her on her nose, and she moves her face forward, meeting his hand gently, sending an excited shiver down his spine. He had always loved animals, had even felt a little bad whenever he saw men come in with dead deer, rabbits, and other wild game. But once it was cooked, that was a whole other story. Like any proper man, he loved his meat, and ate as much of it as he could stomach, though his training and all the running around he did with other children his age kept him from gaining weight.

Despite being eager to learn to ride, actually getting on the horse for the first time was a task in itself. He looks up at the horse's saddle, his head coming up to the seat, he had to have help just to get up. He sticks his left foot in the stirrup, bouncing on his right foot as he grips the handle of the saddle, trying to build up a little momentum for his ascent. Grunting, he pushes off the ground, getting about halfway up before he falters and comes to a halt, not quite high enough to swing his leg over. His riding trainer approaches and lift him up gently into the saddle, and Shei swings his leg over and puts his right foot in the other stirrup. He was in the saddle! At last!

Taking the reins, he takes it slow, following his riding trainers instructions closely, "Keep your hands low, close to the saddle, when you're ready to move simply give her a light kick with your heels, remember to pull the reins in the direction you want to go. Go ahead now boy… give her a little kick." Gulping, he does as he is told, bumping her sides with his heels, rousing her to step forward and start plodding her way around the pen. His riding trainer followed closely on the ground beside him, reassuring him that if he fell, there was a 50% chance that he would be caught, depending entirely on which way he fell. Despite being nervous about falling, he was doing ok, going slow and keeping an even pace. Eventually, after making a few rounds around the pen, the trainer stopped following him around and simply stood in the center, speaking encouraging words to him in a manner that wouldn't spook the horse.

After another few rounds, Shei is feeling much braver and much more sure of himself, so he clicks his heels against her sides again, encouraging her to speed up a little, and she falls into an even trot. He's a tiny bit jostled now, but its not so much that he can't hold himself in his seat with some effort. Riding a horse just felt natural to him, as natural as breathing, even though he was still learning the basics, and had a little bit of difficulty steering now that she was going just a bit faster, but with practice he would get better at it. After about half an hour more of just riding around in circles, he wants to stop, but hasn't quite figured out that bit. "How do I stop now?" He asks, sounding a little nervous, earning a soft laugh from his trainer, "Lightly pull back on the reins, she'll stop." He does as he is told, lifting the reins to his chest until she comes to a complete stop, hoofing at the ground. Getting down was a little scarier than getting up, but with a hand on his backside, he manages it. Taking the horse by the reins, he leads her into the barn and into her stall, Shei smiling up at his horse. "She still needs a name you know, as her owner it's up to you to give her one," the trainer says, smiling down at the young man. Shei thinks this over for a while, wanting to give her a perfect name. "A name… for a pretty horse…" He ponders the possibilities for a minute or two, before smiling as he thinks of one, "Spring… after my favorite season…that's a pretty name for a pretty girl… right?" He looks to his trainer for approval and finds a soft smile, "Plenty good enough Master Shei."

Shei was no longer considered a child, though he was still too young to be considered an adult, though in his mind he is old enough to be a man. His view of females was shifting a little, still finding most girls his age giggly and annoying, but some of them were changing in certain pleasant ways. His gaze isn't just on girls however, some of the other teenage boys catching his eye, though he is confused about that aspect of his feelings. He had never heard of boys being attracted to other boys, so he keeps his feelings to himself. It's not just girl's his own age he finds attractive either, a rather plain looking woman, in her early thirties, with mismatched eyes signaling she was graced, but he wasn't sure what her grace was exactly, as he had never spoken to her before. One of her eyes was the brightest yellow he had ever seen, and the other was a deep and soul piercing black. Her eyes would be enticing to almost anyone, if it were not for the general distance most people instinctively craved from the graced. The graced were not outright feared, but no one who was not graced would choose to be around a graced, unless of course their grace was particularly useful, like archery for guards, or cooking for chefs. Some graces were useless, like a swimming grace, or a grace that lets you hold your breath indefinitely.

He analyzes everything he can about her, wanting to memorize it all, though he's not sure why he has this desire. Her hair wasn't groomed as well as the noble ladies, but it didn't look neglected either, she had to brush it herself at least every other day. The color of her hair was surprisingly opulent, the copper locks either left loose and free, framing her face pleasantly and swaying softly whenever it is stirred, or up in some sort of convenient bun or braid. Her hair was long enough to reach between her shoulder blades when in a smooth braid. Her face was nothing special if you just considered each part on it's own, minus the eyes of course, but when put all together, it was still nothing special, unless you took the time to look for something special about it. Her nose was long, but it fit her face, it would have looked scrunched up if it had been any smaller. Her brows were not exactly thin, but they framed her eyes in a rather flattering way, that made the contrast of the colors look that much more striking. Her lips, something Shei was sure to pay particular attention to, were slightly thin, and she had a habit of lightly chewing her bottom lip, so the skin would occasionally peel, but she was quick to peel the skin away whenever it flaked, leaving her lip smooth. Her neck was long, but not garishly so, and whenever she had her hair up the skin looked rather enticing to bite. Her shoulders were solid, but not as wide as a man's, strong from working most of her life. Her arms were well proportioned to her body, her hands looking worn in, but small, as sturdy as the rest of her, but obviously belonging to a woman. Her breasts sagged just a little, but that was natural for someone her age, at least that's what Shei assumed, as most other women had breasts like her's. They were not huge, but not nothing to look at either. Shei wondered what they would look like bare, as he had never seen a woman's breasts before. Her belly was not flat, and she never wore a corset, only noble ladies do after all. But Shei wasn't the type to feel distain for a woman for having curves, after all, most woman did. Her thighs and rear were slightly larger than they should be to be proportional to the rest of her, giving her lower half a plush soft look. The rest of her wasn't really worth looking at, but Shei could look at her for hours just to take in her form and imagine all the things he could do to all the different parts of her body.

Shei wasn't really sure how to go about courting a lady, let alone a servant woman who was much older than the teen, but in all honesty, he wasn't really interested in courting her, he was more interested in what she looked like underneath him, what her face looked like when she felt pleasure, how she sounded when she was particularly excited, if she sounded desperate when she was close to climaxing. These thoughts fill his mind near constantly, and he quickly becomes obsessed with her. He had never spent much time in her company, but lately he had made it a point to spend most of his free time pretending to read in the room she was in, be it the kitchen, or the servant's quarters, though he does his best to look aloof, as though it were purely happenstance that they were in the same room together. Whenever he thinks she's not looking his way, his eyes follow her, just over the edge of his book, sure to look down if he thought she would look his way.

As he watches her, he learns a few things about her he hadn't expected. The most important being that she had a daughter his age, a spry but sturdy thing, her hair a bright blonde, obviously her father's color, and her eyes were a matching pair, so she was not graced. He doesn't look at her daughter in quite as much detail as he did for his interest, but he still gives her a few glances every now and then. She was blonde, with blue eyes, a pretty typical pairing, he wondered if she had her mother's birth eye color, they were nowhere near as striking as the yellow and black that she had now. The girl was thin, probably a little underfed, her mother worked hard, but that kind of work only paid just enough to survive. Her hands were not quite as worn as her mother's, yet, but with time she would more than likely match her mother. Unless she got lucky and a lord fell in love with her and took her away from her mother.

Despite having a daughter, Shei never saw his interest with a man, which meant she either had a child out of wedlock, or her husband had died and she was now alone. He tries to think of a way to talk to her, to get in her good graces, to get her to like him enough that she would even consider bedding him. He tries to think, and a method forms in his mind, if he could become friends with her daughter, maybe he could start a dialog with her. Maybe he could even manage to bed the daughter before moving on to the mother… that would take some careful planning and a lot of tactics. One other thing he had learned from his time of watching her were the names of both his interest and his interest's daughter. Her name was Isabella, but everyone who was close to her called her Bella, and her daughter's name was Elizabeth. Bella… he smiled whenever the name popped up in his mind, finding it mature and fitting for the woman that held his eye.


End file.
